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The Pink Room
The world's leading physicist attempts to use string theory to bring his daughter back from the dead. A novel from award winning Maine journalist Mark LaFlamme.
- GenresHorrorGhost Stories
276 pages, Paperback
First published November 22, 2005
1 person is currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
Mark Laflamme
11 books30 followersMark is a crime reporter and columnist at the Sun Journal in Lewiston, Maine. He is also the author of the new collection "Box of Lies" and the novels "Dirt: An American Campaign," "The Pink Room," "Vegetation," and "Asterisk: Red Sox 2086."
Mark stays up until dawn and sleeps until noon. He takes Halloween off each year and rides a dual sport motorcycle. He proposed to his wife, Corey, in a pumpkin patch and then whisked her off to Salem, Mass. for a honeymoon.
Shockingly, he is still married.
Visit his website
Find Mark on Facebook
Kindle Books
Mark stays up until dawn and sleeps until noon. He takes Halloween off each year and rides a dual sport motorcycle. He proposed to his wife, Corey, in a pumpkin patch and then whisked her off to Salem, Mass. for a honeymoon.
Shockingly, he is still married.
Visit his website
Find Mark on Facebook
Kindle Books
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 10, 2014
I got this from my Secret Santa (Tammy) in my horror group and really enjoyed it. I've been wanting to read it for years because I love haunted house/ghost stories.
A popular writer named Jonathan Cain moves into a house in Maine that was built by a man named Theodore Currie, who lost his young daughter named Angel in a house fire while he was away on business. This new house was built to specific proportions in a specific place, because Currie was an intelligent man into physics and the supernatural and something called ley lines, where dead loved ones can be enticed back from the dead. Only they're not always happy at being awakened from their dead slumber and brought back at the whims of the living.
Cain tells others that he is spending some time in the house to research a novel, but he plans to bring his beloved wife, Kimberly, back from the dead; she died a year before from a brain tumor. The descriptions of their courtship and marriage are beautifully written, which makes what happens later all the more horrifying.
There are some seriously spooky moments in this book, not the least of which are tangible ghosts that can make contact with humans and inflict serious bodily injury, and the idea of being trapped for an eternity on the other side, or as Currie chillingly puts it: "It is an eternity here." (This is a phobia of mine—yeah, even though it's not possible, or so we know-it-all humans think—and something I had anxiety over concerning a character in Tim Curran's excellent Dead Sea.
I recommend this book to fellow horror readers who like slow-building ghost stories. The character development is great, as is the lyrical way Laflamme has of writing prose.
A popular writer named Jonathan Cain moves into a house in Maine that was built by a man named Theodore Currie, who lost his young daughter named Angel in a house fire while he was away on business. This new house was built to specific proportions in a specific place, because Currie was an intelligent man into physics and the supernatural and something called ley lines, where dead loved ones can be enticed back from the dead. Only they're not always happy at being awakened from their dead slumber and brought back at the whims of the living.
Cain tells others that he is spending some time in the house to research a novel, but he plans to bring his beloved wife, Kimberly, back from the dead; she died a year before from a brain tumor. The descriptions of their courtship and marriage are beautifully written, which makes what happens later all the more horrifying.
There are some seriously spooky moments in this book, not the least of which are tangible ghosts that can make contact with humans and inflict serious bodily injury, and the idea of being trapped for an eternity on the other side, or as Currie chillingly puts it: "It is an eternity here." (This is a phobia of mine—yeah, even though it's not possible, or so we know-it-all humans think—and something I had anxiety over concerning a character in Tim Curran's excellent Dead Sea.
I recommend this book to fellow horror readers who like slow-building ghost stories. The character development is great, as is the lyrical way Laflamme has of writing prose.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 27, 2011
The Pink Room. Just by the title I knew there was going to be something odd about the whole thing. See, there’s this house. In that house an obsessively motivated scientist spent an abundance of time working on bringing his little girl back from the dead. To lure her back he needed to make the room just right, just like her room when she was alive.
But that’s not the whole story.
The truth is that a number of things had to go right for the scientist to achieve this accomplishment.
So what would you do, how far would you go to be with your long lost love again? Would you put your career on the line? Would you suffer to see them again, even if they're dead?
This is the story of The Pink Room by Mark Laflamme.
Jonathan Caine is the writer hero in this creepy story. He is staying in the house of the deceased scientist while trying to understand the scientist’s madness, from a simpleton’s perspective. You know, so he can write about it.
Once Caine experiences the terrors that come with the place, he also thinks of how much he understands them, in light of his suffering from the death of his wife.
Now for what you need to understand.
This book has many positives. Let’s start with the narrative. The tone is spot on, as it doesn’t need to get campy to crack a few jokes. A versatile craftsman is Laflamme for the most part. I had my questions in parts but nothing stopped me.
Laflamme is not scared to draw his scenes out and not rush the action or speed anything into happening early. Let me explain. There aren’t many scenes that build tension for no reason and then end with the protagonist opening a closet door and there being nothing there. Not many of them, at least. A great job having purpose to every chapter, and while this might seem like a no brainer, it’s not.
If you’re into characters then you won’t be disappointed here. The characters stick out and shine like you’d like them to, for most of the story. That’s for most of it. We’ll get to the other part of it in a minute.
Because the characters are fleshed out adequately, there are moments of empathy when you really think about the consequences that must happen no matter what. You know damned well that you could be in his situation, and if not, you surely can understand. Kind of like how you probably have a loser friend who is somehow addicted to smoking weed. You know it could have been you. Don’t even lie. That's why you're their friend. You understand.
Here’s the thing.
Not sure about the ending, and in retrospect you have to wonder if there was ever a proper ending in mind. Everything cruises and then when it comes to wrapping it up, Laflamme kicks in a plot device that, while it is foreshadowed and it is interesting, scary and well executed, it stalls the characters at their last moment.
With that said, the end is where everything comes to a head in this piece and I doubt you’ll be disappointed. But maybe it’s not quite as eloquent as the rest of the novel. Maybe not quite. I don't think so.
Read to the end and comment in on the Caine's last words. Tell me what you think.
But that’s not the whole story.
The truth is that a number of things had to go right for the scientist to achieve this accomplishment.
So what would you do, how far would you go to be with your long lost love again? Would you put your career on the line? Would you suffer to see them again, even if they're dead?
This is the story of The Pink Room by Mark Laflamme.
Jonathan Caine is the writer hero in this creepy story. He is staying in the house of the deceased scientist while trying to understand the scientist’s madness, from a simpleton’s perspective. You know, so he can write about it.
Once Caine experiences the terrors that come with the place, he also thinks of how much he understands them, in light of his suffering from the death of his wife.
Now for what you need to understand.
This book has many positives. Let’s start with the narrative. The tone is spot on, as it doesn’t need to get campy to crack a few jokes. A versatile craftsman is Laflamme for the most part. I had my questions in parts but nothing stopped me.
Laflamme is not scared to draw his scenes out and not rush the action or speed anything into happening early. Let me explain. There aren’t many scenes that build tension for no reason and then end with the protagonist opening a closet door and there being nothing there. Not many of them, at least. A great job having purpose to every chapter, and while this might seem like a no brainer, it’s not.
If you’re into characters then you won’t be disappointed here. The characters stick out and shine like you’d like them to, for most of the story. That’s for most of it. We’ll get to the other part of it in a minute.
Because the characters are fleshed out adequately, there are moments of empathy when you really think about the consequences that must happen no matter what. You know damned well that you could be in his situation, and if not, you surely can understand. Kind of like how you probably have a loser friend who is somehow addicted to smoking weed. You know it could have been you. Don’t even lie. That's why you're their friend. You understand.
Here’s the thing.
Not sure about the ending, and in retrospect you have to wonder if there was ever a proper ending in mind. Everything cruises and then when it comes to wrapping it up, Laflamme kicks in a plot device that, while it is foreshadowed and it is interesting, scary and well executed, it stalls the characters at their last moment.
With that said, the end is where everything comes to a head in this piece and I doubt you’ll be disappointed. But maybe it’s not quite as eloquent as the rest of the novel. Maybe not quite. I don't think so.
Read to the end and comment in on the Caine's last words. Tell me what you think.
December 13, 2007
What would you do if there were a way to bring back a loved one you had lost? A child? A beloved spouse? What lengths would you be willing to go to in order to hold them again; to kiss them again; to bring them back into your life? These are the questions the main characters in Mark LaFlamme's The Pink Room, must grapple with.
Theodore Currie was widely acknowledged as a modern-day Einstein whose life's work was unraveling the mysteries of the physical universe. The day he lost his beloved daughter, Angel, in a horrible house fire, was the day his universe fell apart. A grief-stricken father, he decided to put his theories to work to concoct a miracle – the resurrection of Angel. On a hill-top in rural Maine, where forces both natural and supernatural combine with astonishing power, Currie built a house. In that house he created an exact replica of the pretty, pink room his daughter lived and died in – the very room he hoped to bring her back to. However, Currie himself died a freakish death in the Maine woods shortly after the room was completed.
One year later Jonathan Cain, a successful horror writer, makes arrangements to spend the summer in the abandoned Currie house with the purpose of finding out the truth about the events that transpired before Theodore Currie's death. He has told his agent that he is researching and writing a new novel. But his real reasons for being in the Currie house are much darker. Cain has experienced the loss of a loved one too. He recently lost his young wife, Kimberly, to the rapid progression of an in-operable brain tumor. Cain has come to the Currie house with the hope of finding out if the house can actually work the magic that Currie was sure it could.
However, Cain is not the only one interested in the Currie house. The U.S. government is also very interested in getting their hands on Currie's papers and formulas. There are soldiers and a government scientist stationed in the Maine woods in order to keep an eye on Cain and the Currie house. Right now Olivia Currie, Theodore's mom and current owner of the Currie house, is keeping the government goons at bay, and off the Currie land. All that could change when Olivia Currie unexpectedly dies.
Following that setup, the story becomes a virtual thrill ride starting right from the first page of The Pink Room which doesn't let up until the book is finished and closed. LaFlamme writes a well-paced, descriptive, riveting narrative you will not want to put down. He has done a masterful job of combining actual scientific theory, spine-tingling chills, nail-biting suspense, realistic characters, a dash of wry humor, and even a slight nod to that other well-known Maine author. The Pink Room is going right onto my list of horror favorites and I will be eagerly looking forward to reading more from this author.
Theodore Currie was widely acknowledged as a modern-day Einstein whose life's work was unraveling the mysteries of the physical universe. The day he lost his beloved daughter, Angel, in a horrible house fire, was the day his universe fell apart. A grief-stricken father, he decided to put his theories to work to concoct a miracle – the resurrection of Angel. On a hill-top in rural Maine, where forces both natural and supernatural combine with astonishing power, Currie built a house. In that house he created an exact replica of the pretty, pink room his daughter lived and died in – the very room he hoped to bring her back to. However, Currie himself died a freakish death in the Maine woods shortly after the room was completed.
One year later Jonathan Cain, a successful horror writer, makes arrangements to spend the summer in the abandoned Currie house with the purpose of finding out the truth about the events that transpired before Theodore Currie's death. He has told his agent that he is researching and writing a new novel. But his real reasons for being in the Currie house are much darker. Cain has experienced the loss of a loved one too. He recently lost his young wife, Kimberly, to the rapid progression of an in-operable brain tumor. Cain has come to the Currie house with the hope of finding out if the house can actually work the magic that Currie was sure it could.
However, Cain is not the only one interested in the Currie house. The U.S. government is also very interested in getting their hands on Currie's papers and formulas. There are soldiers and a government scientist stationed in the Maine woods in order to keep an eye on Cain and the Currie house. Right now Olivia Currie, Theodore's mom and current owner of the Currie house, is keeping the government goons at bay, and off the Currie land. All that could change when Olivia Currie unexpectedly dies.
Following that setup, the story becomes a virtual thrill ride starting right from the first page of The Pink Room which doesn't let up until the book is finished and closed. LaFlamme writes a well-paced, descriptive, riveting narrative you will not want to put down. He has done a masterful job of combining actual scientific theory, spine-tingling chills, nail-biting suspense, realistic characters, a dash of wry humor, and even a slight nod to that other well-known Maine author. The Pink Room is going right onto my list of horror favorites and I will be eagerly looking forward to reading more from this author.
January 21, 2016
I found this book by looking for books that people said scared them. This book is great for some thrills. A little slow to start but an enjoyable read. As another reviewer said it does have animal cruelty in it so be forewarned. I didn't like that part but worked through it since it usually is part of a horror novel.
January 27, 2008
Daaaaaammmmmn! Disturbing. Had to keep my TV on while reading to distract me it was so scary and creepy. Couldn't put it down. The end was a wowzer - do not read the end in advance! Did I say disturbing? Zounds, what a book!
April 1, 2009
Horror, fast paced, good metaphors, imagery, action is frequent. Plays with words very well. One heckuvan ending- so don't read ahead. Characters gray, vulnerable, human.Organized in short chapters, segments- easy to pick up again.
May 29, 2011
It was like reading the younger, less awesome cousin of the Stephen King classic tale Pet Sematary. It was perfectly acceptable for a free Kindle book and made for a decent trip read on my last vacation.
September 12, 2013
This book is ah.maze.ing. The first Mark LaFlamme book I read and I have been a fan ever since. I really hope this is made into a movie like it says, count me in to see it!
I also highly recommend Box of Lies, a great collection of LaFlamme's short stories.
I also highly recommend Box of Lies, a great collection of LaFlamme's short stories.
November 6, 2010
Probably the best book in the history of the planet.
October 25, 2010
I grew up in a pink room. I can relate.
March 7, 2011
Very interesting and truly disturbing.
January 1, 2013
Probably my least favorite Laflamme novel to date. Very enjoyable read, nonetheless.
Loved the shout-out to this novel in Laflamme's short story "Our House"
Loved the shout-out to this novel in Laflamme's short story "Our House"
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews